Quarry

Quarry

Type

Tool

Stackable

Data Value

Mod Included

The Quarry is a machine added by BuildCraft. It allows for unmanned mining of a large area. The Quarry can be powered in many different ways. A tutorial illustrating how to set up a Quarry can be found here.

Contents

Recipe

Starting a Quarry

The default frame of the Quarry will occupy an area of 11 x 11 x 5 and excavate a 9 x 9 area of land. These dimensions can be increased, up to 64 x 64. To adjust the size of the Quarry, four Landmarks will need to be placed in a square or rectangular pattern, then activated by right clicking one of them. Note that powering a Landmark with a redstone signal will emit a beam that will travel to the extent of where the following Landmark can be placed, 64 blocks, in all directions. The Quarry will then need to be placed next to one of the Landmarks. A black and yellow line will appear when the Quarry is placed. The line is where the frame will be built.

Upon starting, the Quarry will clear the area within the black and yellow bars and build a frame. Once the frame is complete, it will spawn a crane-like structure that will begin to mine the area one block at a time. These blocks will be deposited into any adjacent chest or pipe. If there is no chest or pipe, the mined items will be ejected from the top of the Quarry. There is no need for a Wooden Pipe to fetch the items; the Quarry will place the items into a connected Stone Pipe, Cobblestone Pipe, Gold Pipe, Iron Pipe, or Diamond Pipe.

In the event the quarry encounters Lava, the rest of the blocks under the Lava will not be mined, due to the fact that the Quarry stops at Lava and/or Bedrock. A measure to prevent this issue is to fill the Quarry's excavation area with Water. This will turn the Lava into Obsidian, which the Quarry can mine. If the Quarry reaches Bedrock, it will require relocation before it can mine again.

Powering Methods

Quarries can be powered using MJ, BuildCraft's form of power, or EU, IndustrialCraft's form of power. When using MJ to power a Quarry, Engines must be used. Any type of engines can be used, but Steam Engines are a good idea. Redstone Engines are rather slow, and with Combustion Engines there is a good chance you Quarry will explode. When using EU to power a Quarry, an Energy Link is the best option. Using an Energy Link early in the game with a Geothermal Generator next to the Energy Link is a good idea. It is quite cheap to build and is easily fueled by Lava Cells which can be easily obtained using tin to make empty cells by filling them with Lava.

The Quarry, like all other BuildCraft Machines, has an internal energy storage in which it stores MJ until it can perform an operation. Because of this, the Quarry can be powered by any BC compatible engine. For the Quarry to operate at maximum mining speed, it needs 9 MJ/t, which is just under 2 Combustion Engines running on Oil, outputting 5 MJ/t each, just under one Combustion Engine running on fuel, outputting 10 MJ/t, or 9 Steam Engines, outputting 1 MJ/t each. 9 Redstone Engines at peak efficiency will also work.

As the Quarry has only 4 sides free to attach Engines to, one way to power a Quarry is to place 4 Steam Engines on all 4 sides. To run the Quarry at full speed with Steam Engines, Conductive Pipes must be used.

Quarry powering level 2.

Quarry powering level 3.

Using An Energy Link

Energy Links can be used to power the Quarry using EU. The Quarry uses 22 EU/t to run at full speed, due to 2.5 EU being equivalent to 1 MJ. If not directly adjacent to the Quarry, the Energy Link will draw 80 EU/t. It is advised to place the Energy Link adjoining to the Quarry.

Nether Powering Method

The Geothermal Generator is an ideal choice for power in the Nether, given the practically infinite quantity of lava available, and its energy output of 20 EU/t is near the maximum energy requirement of the Quarry.

Quarry powered by engines.

Operation Methods

Underground Operation

Lighting is futile in a large underground Quarry.

A Quarry can function at any level. Simply placing it against a shaft wall and powering it is all that is required to start the default 9 x 9 area. The blocks in the frame area will be destroyed.

An underground quarry.

It is possible to create a Landmark frame as per above ground. It is not necessary for there to be an empty path for all of the Landmark beams. The beams can cross through all blocks.

You may also want to carve out the entire area inside the frame, as these are not mined, simply destroyed. To know exactly where, after setting your landmarks, Place your quarry but do not power it. This will give you a black and yellow frame you can use as guidelines.

You may also do this above ground as you are not limited to only underground.

Nether Operation

A Quarry can also function in the Nether, following all the same principles as above. Nether specific behaviors to note include:

The Quarry will not provoke Zombie Pigmen when collecting Nether Ores.

Nether Ores still have a chance of exploding when mined, just as when mining with a Pickaxe. The explosion does not interfere with the operation of the Quarry, however, the ore or other blocks destroyed by the explosion cannot be collected by the Quarry.

Glowstone collected by the Quarry will give 2 - 4 Glowstone Dust, similar to collecting it manually.

Obsidian can be mined fast and in large amounts if you can place water in the Nether using Ice or Water Blocks.

If built at level 119 or higher, such that the top of the frame intersects with the Bedrock ceiling of the Nether, the bedrock may interfere with the Quarry's ability to collect blocks. If Bedrock obstructs the path from the point where the horizontal beams cross to the mining tip of the Quarry, it will be unable to collect any blocks in that column.

Nether Ore must be smelted or Macerated into normal ore blocks before being further processed into resources. If a Macerator is used, Nether Ore will produce two normal Ore Blocks for each Nether Ore processed. Using a Macerator or Red Matter Furnace on the resulting Ore Blocks will result in four units of resources for each Nether Ore gathered.

Automatic Ore Factories

If you are thinking if setting one up, here are some things to remember:

Quarry Advantages

A Quarry can be powered by Buildcraft or IndustrialCraft power, whilst a Mining Turtle does not need fuel.

Mining Turtles need to be unloaded manually every few layers, whereas Quarries do not.

Quarries can lead directly into a filter/processing system.

Every time a Mining Turtle's inventory is full, it returns to the surface and takes a long time to descend again whereas Quarries don't have an inventory.

A Quarry remains stationary, allowing for easy access unlike a Mining Turtle which descends into the hole it is digging in.

Mining Turtle Advantages

Mining Turtles can be moved and/or replaced more easily

Mining Turtles have less EMC cost than a quarry.

Mining Turtles have many other purposes.

Mining Turtles cost less resources, with only 3 Diamonds compared to the Quarry's 11 (along with other resources, e.g. Iron and Gold).

Mining Turtles consume less power

Mining Turtles do not stop operation at Lava

Tips

An area of 64 x 64 provides a low-maintenance Quarry that doesn't need replacing nearly as frequently as the default 9 x 9 Quarry, but be advised that mining from a Quarry this large takes more than 20 minutes per layer at full speed. Also, the top layers will fill several chests of sand, dirt and cobblestone if a Recycler, Energy Condenser, or Incinerator is not used.

A good method is to run the default size and to gather any Ore visible on the walls of the Quarry once it is finished. An easy way to do this is run rings around the Quarry at 8 block intervals. You could also use a jetpack .

Once placed, the Quarry will begin to clear all blocks inside the area, so remember not to leave items like Engines, Pipes or the Quarry itself inside the area, or it will destroy itself.

If the Quarry is close to finishing, or if you are in danger of stopping the Quarry, place a Builder on top of the Quarry and put Sand or Gravel in it. The Sand will be built and it will fall into the Quarry. The Quarry will mine the Sand or Gravel, which can be piped, through a filter, back to the Builder. This will ensure that the Quarry will never stop working.

Like most other items, the orange framework can be recycled for Scrap in a Recycler.

To pick up and move the Quarry, make sure you are using at least an Iron Pickaxe.

You may want to consider using an Energy Condenser to turn Dirt and Cobblestone into something useful.

Dangerous holes in the ground are produced when using a Quarry. Cover with Dirt when all Ores have been collected.

Once the quarry has mined the first layer, it is useful to pause operation and fill the layer with water. Not only will this make the hole in the ground less dangerous, but it will prevent the quarry from having to mine around lava, obtaining obsidian in the process.

Bugs

If you place landmarks to increase the quarry and set the quarry next to one of the landmarks it will destroy all but one landmark but the striped line will remain even if you break the one that didn't get destroyed the only way of getting rid of the line is by breaking the quarry